[QUOTE efidm=5258]

I find the whole thing strange.  A game comes out of nowhere (unless you count a viral marketing campaign that only a handful of people paid any attention to).  It's positioned to be in time for Christmas lists but without even a clue as to what the game is or how it's played, how many people are going to go for it?  Nobody in my group, that's for sure.  ....[/QUOTE]

Even if one does not partake in the viral marketing...just the fact that one is aware of such goings-on is indicative of its success (or at least partial success) as a marketing strategy?

Ruvion said:

No.  I know of it because I saw a thread about it on the old FFG forums.  Outside of the world of the forums, there wasn't a peep and that's where you'd want your viral marketting to register.  If you're only trying to preach to the converted, you might as well just set up your standard web page with pictures and rules and such.

And what's the result of a viral campaign?  You get a lot of people asking, "What the $%@ is that?"  They get curious.  They tell others and they also get curious.  Time passes and the mystery deepens.  And then you reveal your product and hope that a lot of those people like what they see.  Unfortunately, this is not a good plan for a boardgame.  You can't just show everyone a pretty box and pieces and hope to make a killing (well actually, I'll get back to this in a moment).  Some people are screaming for rules to look at already, but at the very least, game buyers want to know what KIND of game it is and have a general sense of how it's played.  Until then, sales aren't very likely to really get going and trying to pull this little trick off right before Christmas just doesn't make sense (unless the comments from my previous post are actually correct).  There's barely any time to complete this marketting strategy.

OK, so about pretty boxes.  There's another thread here with people all hyped up by what is really little more than a movie trailer.  These are the same people who rush to the theatres time and again because of a trailer they saw, only to be disappointed later.  Being INTERESTED in what the game's about after seeing that trailer is perfectly normal.  Boldly stating that you can't wait to purchase the product is just pure foolishness.

Trump said:

I think they're basing their exuberance on the fact that FFG doesn't really have a reputation for crapping in an art-resplendent box and then selling it without answering questions about the game.

Plus, it's done by Kevin Wilson, who has a track record of several great games (Arkham Horror, Descent, the Cosmic Encounter re-release, etc.) He's a nice guy and wouldn't jerk people around.

I think each and every one of us is waiting anxiously for the rulebook to make our final decision, but it's harmless fun to say we're excited in advance. :)

Big Head Zach said:

Kevin Wilson's track record is debatable.  I'm not saying anything about the quality of his designing skills, only that I am not interested in all of the products he has created.  Of the games I can see him credited with, Descent is the only one I can ever see myself playing.  If I were to go on track records, Android wouldn't even get a shot.  But I do want to know more and I probably would like to try the game out, so I'm still here.  :)

Harmless fun?  Yeah maybe.  Some of us are coming across as pretty mindless though.  I just read in another thread where someone said they were ready to buy the game without any information beyond Kevin Wilson and Cyberpunk.  PLEASE!  Kevin could make a killing with koolaid... but I digress.

You know FFG doesn't post the rules for most of it's games until they have left the Warehouse and are in the hands of the distributers.  I'm guessing that the lack of rules is less about a vast conspiracy and more about the fact that the Distributors don't have it yet.

So far I haven't seen anything that would indicate that FFG *isn't* going to post the rules or that they don't want anyone to know about the game.  They are trying something different.  Some people seem really jazzed about this game and others seem personally offended by the marketing.

If you look really close at the "rants" section of the old boards there have been several offhand refrences to a "secret project" and Kevin has said things that would imply this game has been in development for almost two years. 

Well I'm interested,although I ignored the viral campaign as rather silly

but with its price i'm not about to jump into this without looking at

the rules.

OD

Old Dwarf said:

Well, it isn't out yet.  The rules will likely be posted when it comes out.

No one is asking you to buy it sight unseen.

Jhamin said:

 I don't recall saying that anyone was asking & its obviously not out yet but thanks for the information.

By the way I just noticed in the News Section the "Murder 101"Article gives some new info on the Game

mechanics..looking better & better.

OD